Giovanni Ghirardi

Practice Areas

A true litigator with a passion for new technology and innovation, Giovanni Ghirardi has been at the forefront of a substantial number of cases in the patent, trademark and design fields. Many of these resulted in decisions of seminal importance on issues such as infringement by equivalence, the role of prosecution history in patent construction, contributory infringement, validity and infringement of SPCs, co-existence agreements, and others.

Giovanni navigates multinational and local clients through matters related to pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices, chemicals, consumer goods and fashion, combining his litigation skills with a deep knowledge of these industries.

He is particularly sought after for litigations with cross-border implications, often involving complex pan-European issues and before the newly established Unified Patent Court (UPC).

Easy to reach and straightforward in talking, Giovanni is appreciated for his clear communication style and for his ability to provide a clear global view of a legal situation. He has learnt over the years that listening carefully to what clients have to say and being practical in his advice is a key to success.

Giovanni is regularly listed in all prominent legal directories such as Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, IP Stars (Managing IP), IAM Patent 1000, and World Trademark Review 1000.

He is recognized by clients as a notable practitioner in the Intellectual Property market and praised for his powerful oratorial skills and deep knowledge of the law.

Work Highlights

Assistance to a leading pharma company in infringement proceedings concerning an SPC covering the combination of three active principles.

Assistance to a leading pharma company in infringement proceedings involving one of the company's core patents for the treatment of cancer.

Assistance to a worldwide producer of medical devices in a pan-European patent litigation concerning a TAVI aortic valve and delivery device.

Assistance to a leading pharma company in a litigation against generic companies concerning the eligibility of their generic drugs to obtain reimbursement from the Italian Health Authority.

Assistance to a tobacco industry technologies provider in a dispute involving alleged trade secrets misappropriation, patent infringement and unfair competition for the filing of divisional patents.

Assistance to a leading chemical company in urgent search proceedings based on a patent for the cold sterilization of beverages.

Assistance to a leading multinational technology company in the management of their Italian IP portfolio.

Assistance to a leading e-commerce platform company in the management of their trademark portfolio.

Assistance to a leading biotech company in the pan-European enforcement of their SPCs and process patents against biosimilars.

Assistance to a worldwide technology company in various IP matters concerning copyright, artificial intelligence and software issues

Languages Spoken

English, Italian, French